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| Vaishno Devi pilgrims worst sufferers | | Chakka jam threw life out of gear in city of temples | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
Jammu, June 11 :The chakka jam call given by the transporters today had produced a collateral effect on the entire city with Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrims being the worst hit, as hundreds of them reaching Jammu via trains were stranded at the Jammu Tawi Railway Station here as they had virtually no means to reach the cave shrine.
“We reached here in the morning and after waiting for almost three hours succeeded in hiring a SRTC bus for Katra. If the transporters have called for the strike, the administration should arrange some vehicles for the pilgrims coming from far-flung areas,” said Sham Lal Gupta, a pilgrim from Delhi.
A group of pilgrims also held a protest against the state government for its alleged failure in providing an adequate number of vehicles for the devotees for reaching Katra.
Local residents also had a tough time as they couldn’t reach their destinations on time. Even the roads wore a deserted look. The misery of the commuters meant a windfall gain for some auto-rickshaw drivers who charged exorbitant fares from passengers.
The fare of an auto-rickshaw from the railway station to the bus stand was about Rs 3 per passenger in a sharing auto-rickshaw, which is normally Rs 5-10 for the same distance. The situation was also similar in Kathua, Samba, Rajouri, Poonch and other districts of the region.
The authorities failed to make adequate alternative arrangements for passengers, particularly those reaching here by train. People carrying their belongings were seen on the long route from the railway station to the city.
The government had made arrangements for carrying its employees to offices in buses of the transport corporation, but students, private employees and other commuters had to walk long distances to reach their destinations.
The call for the strike was given jointly by Jammu Kashmir transporters who on the occasion took out a massive rally and observed ‘chakka jam’ against the arrest of the former Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) Trilochan Singh Wazir along with his brother Ajaib Singh in a sensational Chopra Murder Case.
Cement tycoon R B Bhushan Chopra, his wife Madhu Chopra, daughter Saloni Chopra and two domestic help were brutally murdered at their residence in posh Trikuta Nagar locality on the intervening night of September 18/19 in 2006.
Alleging conspiracy against the senior National Conference leader and ex-MLC T S Wazir, hundreds of transporters amid slogans, today observed ‘chakka-jam’ and took out a mass rally against the Jammu Police.
The protestors carrying placards and banners against police, started rally from the main Gurudwara at Nanak Nagar and after passing through the posh Gandhi Nagar and Nanak Nagar areas, it culminated outside Press Club of Jammu.
"Mr Wazir has been trapped under a conspiracy hatched by some influential people with vested interest but our struggle will continue unless, he will be set free," one of the transporters union leader said.
He said the police have arrested him without verifying the facts and investigating the matter adding, "we will also approach the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and the Director General of Police against the act." Wazir and his brother Ajaib Singh were arrested on Thursday after one Surinder Singh alias Kala in a sensational statement before the court disclosed that a conspiracy was hatched by the ex-MLC along with leading businessman Choudhary Nagar Singh, gangster Sanjay Sharma and Ajaib Singh in August 2006 to eliminate Raju Chopra and his family over some business rivalry.
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